


Under the Skin

by seriouslysamson



Series: GTA AU [2]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - GTA, Fake AH Crew, Freewood - Freeform, M/M, Non-graphic Injury description, language warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-22 05:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2495759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seriouslysamson/pseuds/seriouslysamson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been a month, and another heist is under way. But Geoff is getting ambitious. Now there's a train, and a man in a mask, and it seems that other things are going to get in the way of simple feelings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Under the Skin

**Author's Note:**

> I said I wanted to write a sequel to Behind the Mask, and I did. This one got long as hell, but I am pleased to announce that I wrote it at a normal hour instead of at midnight this time. I hope you enjoy it!

Another week, another safe house.

This time they were in a ramshackle apartment in the south of Los Santos, all six of them crammed into two bedrooms and a living room. Gavin was sharing the living room with Ray, Michael had a bedroom with Geoff, and Ryan had one with Jack. Although even Jack made a point not to go into the room often unless he had to sleep. Gavin’s attitude on the matter was a little more direct.

He knocked on the door, listening for any sound from within.

“Ryan?” He called.

“Yes?” Came the curt reply.

“Can I come in?”

“I don’t know, _can_ you?” Gavin rolled his eyes and opened the door, walking into the bedroom.

“Yeah, it looks like I can.” He closed the door behind himself as Ryan swung his legs off his bed, carefully placing a bookmark between the pages of the ancient-looking book in his hands. He was still wearing the mask.

“What do you want?”

“Geoff wants to see you. Well, all of us, but you’re the only one who isn’t there.” Ryan sighed.

“He’s been very keen on these group meetings lately, hasn’t he?”

“Yeah. He said something about team building or whatever. Sounds like bull to me, but you know what he’s like.”

“Oh, I know what he’s like.” There was humour in his voice. “I’ve worked with the guy for three years, after all.”

“I always forget how long you’ve worked with Geoff.”

“Well, not as long as Jack. But yes, it’s been a while.” He stood up from the bed. “Shall we go?” Gavin nodded and led Ryan back through to the kitchen, where Geoff and the others stood around the table. Geoff was drinking from a large mug of coffee, his eyes looking dark and downturned. Even so, when he put the mug down, he was grinning.

“Glad to see you two finally joined us.” He said cheerily. “You ready for your next briefing?”

“What?” Ray exclaimed. “Geoff, are you serious? We just got back from a job, you’re sending us out again so fast?”

“Yeah, come on Geoff. I mean, I respect your authority and all, but that seems like a security risk.” Michael agreed. Geoff just laughed.

“You won’t be saying that when I show you what we’re doing.” There was an expectant silence as he sipped his coffee again. “This is a one-time event, gentlemen. The opportunity of a lifetime.” He let the anticipation build for a few more seconds before continuing. “You fellas ever heard of the Great Train Robbery?”

“Yeah, and it was fifty years ago.” Ryan said. “What of it?”

“A mail train. Carrying a carriage full of high value packages. Fifteen men robbed the train and got away with two and a half million. Of course, I’m skimping on the details, and they got caught like the bunch of jackasses they were. But we’re better than that.”

“I still don’t understand where this is going.”

“In three days’ time, a mail train is going to pass through Los Santos. It’ll have a high value packages carriage. Maybe better protected than one fifty years ago, but we’re as advanced as they are. A little birdie told me there’ll be a good five million on this thing.” Geoff took another sip of coffee as they gaped at him.

“So how are we gonna do it?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, this isn’t as easy as you’re making it out, Geoff.” Gavin piped up. “Like you say, there were fifteen train robbers, and they still got caught. And with a lot less money on them, _and_ a lot more preparation time.”

“It’s all technicalities. We can work it out.”

“So tell us your plan.”

“Well, I know the route the train’s gonna take. Where’s the map?” Michael leaned down behind the table and pulled out the rolled up map. They flattened it on the surface, with one person holding down each corner and Gavin and Geoff standing and looking over it.

“This is the planned journey.” Geoff traced a line with his finger, following the railway from Mount Chiliad past the power station and down to East Los Santos. “We can take it from high ground. There are raised banks around the train in places, tunnels it’ll go through. The plan is to jump down onto it and get inside as fast as possible.”

“Won’t there be passengers?” Jack asked. “We don’t wanna get shot by some redneck before we’ve even started.”

“Nah. There’ll be people further back in the train sorting mail, but we won’t get to them because we won’t need to _be_ far back. It’ll be the second or third carriage, probably locked pretty tight, but… we have a wide array of explosives at our fingertips, as well as Michael.”

“So I’m on demo duty? Excellent.” Michael rubbed his hands together with glee.

“Obviously we’re going to need someone to just simply threaten and shoot. While I usually take that job gladly, this time I think Ray’s going to be our man.”

“Alright. What’s my job description?” Ray asked.

“You make sure no one gets in while we’re working. And if needs be, you threaten the driver to keep going until we derail the fucker.” Ray nodded and Geoff continued. “As usual, we need a getaway. Jack, are you happy to be driver again?”

“Sure.” Jack agreed. “What kind of vehicle are we looking at?”

“Something with some kind of armour, that’s big enough for all six of us and whatever we take.” Jack seemed to consider this for a moment.

“I might have a van that’s just the thing. Bulletproof glass and tires.”

“Great. So, that leaves me, Gavin, and Ryan. We’re going to be doing the robbing.”

“Wait, what?” Gavin asked, confused. “You want me to… do the main part of the job? With you?”

“Sure, buddy. Why wouldn’t I?”

“B- Because I’m the junior member!” He spluttered. “I’m not supposed to do that stuff!”

“Well, this is my crew, and I say that you’re doing it. Yeah?” Gavin just stared for a moment, mouth flapping as he failed to form words. A hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed gently.

“I’d be honoured to have you on my team, Gavin.” Ryan said quietly, making him shiver. “After all, you’ve proven yourself so much after your last mishap.” His memory flashed back to kneeling on the pavement, guns pointed at his head. Ryan’s arms around his chest. He shuddered.

“I can do it.” He said. Geoff nodded smugly, draining the final drop of coffee from his mug.

“Good. Of course, this is all preliminary planning. We’ll meet again tomorrow to discuss the finer points. And then we’ll be on our way.” He grinned wide and twirled his moustache like an early Hollywood supervillain. “Five million. Can you imagine it?”

“Don’t get cocky yet, Geoff.” Jack warned. “You know our luck.”

“No, this time’s different. I can feel it.” Gavin rolled his eyes as an optimistic Geoff left the kitchen, and suddenly realised Ryan’s hand was still on his shoulder. He turned to face him, and the hand moved away.

“Do you think he’s going insane, or is it just me?”

“He does seem to have…” Ryan sighed as he tried to find the words. “He seems to have little grasp on the consequences of what he’s doing. A train derailment, five million dollars missing… That shit attracts attention. Too much of it.”

“He’s a bloody lunatic if you ask me.”

“Well, we’ll see. Geoff’s had a lot of crackpot plans that have somehow come through. This could be one of them.”

*

It was three in the morning. Gavin shifted the mask on his face uncomfortably. He was about to ask himself who’s bloody idea this had been anyway, before remembering that it had been his. After all, no one wanted their faces seen, and for a heist as big as this, there were bound to be some witnesses. But a plate-less van and six men in matching black clothing and skull masks were at least hard to recognise, if not inconspicuous. Ryan was displeased with the idea, at first sure they were making fun of him. But once he saw that they were serious, he got into it, helping them get hold of the masks on short notice.

Now they were waiting on the bank by the railroad, new radios buzzing with static in the silence. More than anything, they were waiting for news from Jack, who was waiting for the signal to change, before driving to meet them at the drop-off point. It was a long and tense fifteen minutes, with little sound but the long grass rustling at their feet as they shifted. Finally, the call came:

“Signal’s green, the train’s coming!” Jack called down the radio, and they heard his van shift into gear with a painful grinding sound. “Get ready, you’ve got two minutes.”

“Remember,” Geoff said urgently, “Ray and Michael drop on the second carriage; Ryan, Gav, and I will drop onto the third. Michael will blow open the HVP one for us and we go in. Take whatever you can get, anything and everything, it’s all worth something. Don’t worry about bulk, that’s what the holdalls are for. Just pack them as full as you can. Ray, you keep a lookout. When we reach the Palomino Highway, Michael sets the explosives, we jump off, and set them off. Whatever we didn’t take gets destroyed, we leave no evidence…”

“We know, Geoff, we’ve heard it a million times.” Michael complained. “Don’t worry. We’re not gonna fuck this up. Not even Gavin.”

“Oi!” Gavin protested, but before he could say more, Ryan pointed off into the distance.

“It’s coming.” He said. Silence descended again as they watched its approach, slower even than the freight trains that crawled through Los Santos every day. Finally, the engine carriage passed beneath them, and Ray and Michael took their places.

“Now!” Ray shouted, and they leapt down from the bank onto the flat top of the second carriage. Rolling to break the fall, they looked up as Gavin, Ryan, and Geoff followed onto the third carriage. Slowly, Gavin made his way down to the small standing space at the back of the carriage, behind the doors. The letters ‘HVP’ stood out in yellow paint against the flaky dark red.

“This is it!” He yelled. “Michael, can you get over here?”

“Sure I can.” Gavin clambered back up to the top of the carriage in time to see Michael leap across to the HVP carriage, landing heavily as the train jolted.

“We’re slowing down.” Geoff said. “Ray, get into the cab, put the fear of god into them. Not too fast, though, right? We gotta stay standing up here.”

“Right.” Ray dropped down onto the engine carriage and out of sight as Michael fiddled with a small explosive at the doors. After a few moments he climbed back up.

“We need to get back onto the next carriage.” He said, leading them across one by one. As soon as he was sure everyone was safely out of the way, he triggered the explosion. Sure enough, there was a crash of metal as the doors buckled, and the train jolted heavily. Gavin found himself clinging to Ryan in an attempt to stay upright.

“Shit, that went bigger than I expected.” Geoff panted, voice higher pitched than usual. “Come on, we’ve gotta go. Michael, go and help Ray until we need you again.”

“I’m nearing the drop-off point now.” Jack’s voice came over the radio.

“That’s great. You secluded?” Ryan asked.

“Under the freeway, like you said.”

“Good. Let’s go in.” He jumped back across to the now-distorted carriage, dropping down to the doors and pulling the debris out of the way. Gavin followed close behind him, nearly falling as he hit the standing space. Ryan reached out to steady him as Geoff landed next to them.

“Prison coming up ahead, you don’t have long.” Ray said calmly.

“Shit. Come on.” They went into the carriage, ignoring the gently smoking remains of what had been near the door. Everything else was free for the taking. They pulled folded holdalls out from under their jackets and started packing them, packages of cash and valuable goods disappearing one after the other into the large bags.

“What the hell is this?” Gavin wondered aloud, poking at a round package in the corner.

“I don’t know.” Geoff replied. “It’s dark as dicks in here, I can’t see anything. Just pick it up and keep going.” Gavin obeyed and continued, stuffing a small box into the bag. He could see the outline of Ryan against the doors, silhouetted against what little of the night sky was visible. And then a light in the distance. Two more. Red and blue, flashing. Sirens. Shit.

“We got five-oh!” Ray yelled.

“How did they get onto us so fast?” Geoff zipped up his holdall and slung it over his shoulder, before pulling Gavin towards the door as he tried to do the same.

“Hold on, hold on!” He squawked, struggling with the strap around his neck. Ryan was doing the same as Ray gave frantic updates on the cops:

“Four- No, five cars. And I think a canine unit, though fuck knows why they think that’ll help against a train. Choppers’ll be on us soon.”

“Michael, come set the explosives!” Ryan ordered.

“Now? Are you crazy? We’ll have to jump early!” Geoff protested.

“It’s that or get shot by the cops, Geoff!” Michael soon dropped down before them, and they vacated the carriage as he set down C4 everywhere he could. Ray met them on the roof.

“Driver’s braking now, we don’t have long at all.” He said.

“Should I move the van?” Jack asked.

“No, stay there.” Geoff said firmly. “We’ll get to you.” Michael popped back up from the carriage and joined them on the roof. There were spotlights converging on them, shouted orders through megaphones.

“They’ll start shooting soon.” Ray pressed. “Are we going?”

“Wait until they get closer to start shooting.” Ryan replied. They waited, a long twenty seconds where the train slowed almost imperceptibly. The first gunshot rang through the night. “Now!” He shouted, and the five of them leapt. There was a moment of flight which seemed to last forever, a weightless second.

And then the ground came up to meet them.

“Michael, now!” Geoff yelled.

The world exploded. _Too close_ , Gavin thought. Everything was yellow and orange and blue-tinged and he closed his eyes against the glare and the heat. His ears rang and his head was spinning. He had a vague sense of… wet? And pressure on his shoulder. And then nothing.

*

_Too close_ , Ryan thought. _Far too fucking close_. He pulled himself up, only to drop back to the ground as he caught sight of Gavin. Blood. His shirt was ripped where the shrapnel had buried itself in his left shoulder. Shit, shit, shit. He floundered, unsure what to do as the others picked themselves up. Michael was staring at the wreck of the train behind them, away from the treeline, now tipped over beside the track and burning heavily, a couple of police cars around it in the same state. Ryan couldn’t even speak, just made a strangled noise, a plea. But Michael heard, and suddenly he and Geoff were there, yelling and touching and making things worse. Ryan slapped their hands away and finally found his voice.

“We need to take him to the van!” He demanded. Geoff said something but the ringing in his ears was still too much to understand. Gently, he picked Gavin up, bridal style, careful to keep his limp body safe. Distantly, he registered how light he was, how small. But the more pressing issue was running ten feet in front of him as Ray directed them back to the van, with the only remaining working earpiece.

*

By the time they reached the hospital, everyone else had removed their masks but Ryan. Gavin was taken in by the medical staff as Ryan argued with a nurse.

“I’m sorry sir, but you can’t come into the hospital wearing that.” She said calmly.

“Why not? Because it makes me a threat?” He growled.

“Because if you _were_ a threat we wouldn’t be able to see your face to identify you.” He glared at her through the eyeholes of his mask, but she held his gaze, unerring. Finally, Ryan nodded. The rest of the crew were looking on nervously, wondering if Ryan was going to hurt the nurse or just give up and not come in. Instead, he lifted shaking hands to his head and pulled off the mask with one swift movement, throwing it to the ground.

“Is this okay?” He asked quietly. The nurse looked him in the eye again and nodded.

“Fine. Please come in. You’ll have to wait a while.” She led them to a waiting room and told them she’d be back to give them news, before leaving. There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

“You left your mask outside, Ryan.” Geoff finally said, unable to tear his eyes away from the unfamiliar face.

“I know.” He didn’t look up. “I don’t think it matters anymore.”

“Oh.” Geoff paused. “I just… you took it off. Why did you-”

“Gavin’s life is more important than my fear.” The words were final, and the conversation ended. Geoff turned to Jack instead, talking about the heist, quiet words about the black van still parked outside. Michael cajoled Ray into getting the small cut on his forehead cleaned up and stitched, and they left to find a doctor. Ryan stared at the ceiling, listening as the clock on the wall ticked. He tried not to think of the possibility of it counting down Gavin’s life.

He couldn’t die. Not now. Not after everything they’d done. Not with… not with the way he felt. He pushed the thought away, but it came back. The moments of contact they’d shared even in the most dangerous moments. He remembered the first time he’d taken off the mask, the curiosity and awe in the younger man’s face. The thought of losing that forever was so awful he couldn’t bear to think about it. But he knew it was possible.

He didn’t want it to be possible.

*

They sat in the waiting room for the rest of the morning. By nine, Ray and Michael were both asleep, leaning on one another’s shoulders. Geoff was drinking strong coffee from the hospital cafeteria, Jack reading one of the ancient magazines stacked on the table. Ryan was still sitting there. Staring at the wall and wondering if he could have stopped this happening. He was still sunk deep into this thought when the nurse walked in again.

“Mr Free is awake now. Only two visitors at a time, though, please. We’re making special allowances for you. He managed to explain through the anaesthetic that you’re family to him.” They glanced around the room quickly, silently determining who would see Gavin. Ryan stood up, followed by Michael. The nurse led them out of the waiting area and down the corridor to a private room. They walked in and she closed the door behind them, leaving them to walk towards the bed, quiet and solemn. Gavin opened his eyes at their approach and grinned.

“Oh, hi, guys.” He said. “What’s up?”

“What’s up?” Michael replied angrily, struggling not to yell. “Gav, you nearly got killed! Again!”

“Yeah.” Gavin’s face fell. “Yeah, I did that.”

“And Ryan nearly killed a nurse because she wouldn’t let him in with his mask on.” Michael gestured to the man on the other side of the bed, and Gavin turned to him for the first time, wincing a little as his shoulder caught the bandages. Still, a smile spread over his features again as he took in the face that he had been the first to see. Ryan was still serious, worried. Maybe even afraid.

“You took your mask off.”

“Only through necessity.”

“But you still did it.” Ryan sighed and let a half-smile slip through at Gavin’s logic.

“Yes, I still did it.”

“I’m proud of you, Ryan.” Gavin said warmly.

“Why?”

“Because a month ago you wouldn’t have done that. A month ago you would have sat outside the hospital rather than take the mask off. You’ve done so well since then, it’s bloody brilliant.” The familiar grin came back and Ryan had to return it, keeping eye contact all the time. Michael rolled his own eyes next to them, standing up.

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay, Gav. You know when you’re getting out?”

“Tonight, hopefully.”

“Great. I’ll tell the others. And, uh… should I send someone else in to take my place?”

“Uh… can you do me a favour and wait until I come back?” Ryan asked. “Then we can send two.”

“Sure, whatever.” Michael nodded and walked towards the door. “See you later, Gavin.”

“Bye, Michael!” Gavin tried to wave but immediately stopped and hissed in pain as his shoulder flared up. “Jesus Christ.” He muttered. Ryan quickly grabbed his hand and gently pulled it back down, releasing the pressure on his shoulder. He didn’t take his hand away, just rested it on top of Gavin’s on the bed sheets.

“So… you’re gonna be okay?” Ryan asked, tiptoeing around the subject.

“I should be, yeah. Why?” Gavin looked into his eyes again and Ryan found he had no word to describe the colour of his irises.

“I… I was scared. That you would bleed out or something. It happens. Or that you were passed out because of a head injury and… I was just worried you were gonna die.”

“I was a bit worried I was gonna die too.” He smiled tightly, looking away, and Ryan squeezed his hand. “No, I passed out because of the shock of the explosion. And apparently once they got the shard of metal out of my shoulder it was an easy fix. It caught a vein, which explains all the blood, but no arteries, which is good, because those are the ones that really pump the blood hard. I just kind of leaked a bit.” Ryan laughed at the last part.

“I’m very happy that you’re alright, Gavin.”

“I can tell.” Ryan froze up, nervous all over again. “I just… I want you to know it’s fine. I know how you feel. I… I think I feel the same way, but that could just be the anaesthetic talking.” Gavin giggled nervously. “But we’ll talk about it at home. Not here.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

“Listen, do me a favour. All of you, go home and get changed. Come and fetch me looking like a normal group of blokes instead of a bunch of bloody criminals. Don’t bother sending anyone else in to see me; I’d rather go back to sleep.”

“Still a bit of it left in your system, huh.”

“I think so. But anyway… I’ll see you tonight, Ryan. My doctor’ll probably tell you when I get out.”

“Alright. Bye, Gavin.” Ryan let go of his hand and left the bedside, looking back as he reached the door to see Gavin’s eyes closing. He could feel the flutter of hope in his heart, and against all instincts, let it blossom.

*

They were back at the safe house by six pm, a slightly unsteady Gavin among them. He was pale and weak now that the relief of the anaesthetic and morphine had worn off. Ryan let the others handle him, too afraid that his clumsy hands would hurt him. He had taken one of the masks that the others had bought for the heist and was wearing it, the second skin still a comfort despite how far he’d come. He felt like hiding. His earlier hope was withering as the others fussed around Gavin, keeping his attention. He didn’t even look over at Ryan’s seat in the corner of the living room.

“Do you need anything?” Geoff asked. “Food? Water?”

“Geoff, I’m fine.” Gavin managed a laugh. “Stop faffing about. I know you’ve got your own work to do.”

“Well, I’m sorry for prioritising my crew members’ safety over my accounting.”

“By accounting I assume you mean dealing with that ridiculous amount of crap we got off the train.”

“Yeah.”

“Which you should have done this afternoon if you had any sense.”

“I… Yeah, I did it this afternoon. You were still in hospital then! Anyway, we only got about five hundred grand in the end. It’s still a lot, but a lot less dangerous to manage.”

“I know, Geoff, I’m not accusing you of anything.” Gavin rolled his eyes. “Seriously, just leave me to it. Go and relax for a while. You need it.” Geoff sighed and nodded, leaving the living room for his bedroom. Jack followed, taking the opportunity to go into the room he shared while Ryan wasn’t occupying it. Michael affectionately patted Gavin’s cheek as he stood up from the couch next to him.

“You’ll be alright, Gav.” He said. Gavin nodded and smiled at him, then at Ray as they both departed into the kitchen, closing the door behind them. A moment later Ryan heard the sound of something sizzling and guessed they were cooking dinner.

“Ryan?” Gavin piped up. “Do you wanna come talk?” Wordlessly, he nodded, and went to sit down in the space Michael had just vacated. Gavin looked at him, too scared to speak for a moment.

“I’m sorry this happened.” Ryan said. He pulled off his mask and laid it on the couch next to him. “I’m sorry… for all of this, really.” Gavin started to laugh, and Ryan stared at him in shock. “What’s so funny?”

“You silly sausage, what are you apologising for? None of this was your fault! It was just an accident, I just didn’t get far enough away in time.” He stopped laughing and patted Ryan’s left hand with his right, still smiling. “Don’t blame yourself.” With a shake of the head, Ryan pulled Gavin closer to him, careful to avoid his injured shoulder. The younger man leaned in happily.

“So, you wanna talk about what we said this morning?” Ryan asked.

“Uh… I don’t really remember all of it, to be honest. Remind me?”

“You told me you were proud of me-”

“Nah, I remember that bit. It was true, as well. I mean towards the end. I was falling asleep.”

“Oh. I said I was happy you were alright. You told me you could tell, and that you felt the same, or you thought you did, at least.”

“Ah.” Gavin chuckled. “Yeah. Well, that was true, too. I mean, I think we’re getting at the same thing, here.”

“That I’m falling in love with you?” Hearing the words come out of his own mouth was strange, and Ryan felt his face flush. He suddenly wished he was wearing the mask again. Still, it was a confirmation, hearing it out loud, and he knew it was true. Gavin gazed up at him, leaning away from his side to get a better view of his face.

“Who’d have guessed it?” He teased. “Ryan Haywood, falling in love with little Gavvy Free.”

“Not me, that’s for sure. But I’ve learnt to recognise that feeling, and that… that when you find it you shouldn’t let it go. Cause you never know when it’s gonna get ripped away from you.”

“Well, that’s a morbid way of looking at it.” He paused. “But you’re right. And I do feel the same. Completely, utterly, the same. Maybe not in love exactly, not yet, but… getting there.” Ryan smiled as the Brit closed his eyes and leaned back into him- and unexpectedly pushed him away.

“Wha- What are you doing?” Gavin asked, high-pitched. “I swear to god if you pull some bollocks about ‘not being able to do this’ I will-” He was cut off by the lips that were suddenly pressed to his, the softness of them. Ryan’s hands were on his waist, and before he knew what he was doing Gavin had his right hand entangled in Ryan’s hair, pulling him deeper into the kiss. On the other side, Ryan was thinking of the moment they’d jumped off the train, before everything went to shit. That second of weightlessness, the drop in his stomach… he felt it all again.

It seemed to be over before it started, but they were already breathless. Weeks of pent-up emotions expressed within seconds.

“So are we… A thing now?” Gavin asked, regaining his composure.

“Gavin Free, we are absolutely, as you so eloquently put it, a thing.” Ryan raised a hand and cupped Gavin’s face, looking into his eyes, still desperately searching for a word to describe those irises. And finally, he found one.

Beautiful.

 

 


End file.
